1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to compositions comprising aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase polypeptides, including truncations, proteolytic fragments, and/or variants thereof, and methods of using such compositions for modulating inflammation and other cellular responses.
2. Description of the Related Art
Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, which catalyze the aminoacylation of tRNA molecules, are essential for decoding genetic information during the process of translation. In higher eukaryotes, aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases associate with other polypeptides to form supramolecular multienzyme complexes. Each of the eukaryotic tRNA synthetases consists of a core enzyme, which is closely related to the prokaryotic counterpart of the tRNA synthetase, and one or more additional domains that are appended to the amino-terminal or carboxyl-terminal end of the core enzyme. Human tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase (YRS), for example, has a carboxyl-terminal domain that is not part of prokaryotic and lower eukaryotic YRS molecules.
Aminoacyl tRNA synthetases, such as tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase, tryptophan-tRNA synthetase, and others, are associated with expanded functions in mammalian cells, including activities in signal transduction pathways, among others.